


i don't recognize these eyes

by golden_blue



Category: DC's Legends of Tomorrow (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Episode: s02e13 Land of the Lost, Gen, timecanary if you squint
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-20
Updated: 2017-07-20
Packaged: 2018-12-04 10:10:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,152
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11553000
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/golden_blue/pseuds/golden_blue
Summary: "Sara thinks she sees a slight softening in his eyes, and for a single moment, her heart leaps in joy—but then one corner of his mouth curves upward in a slow, dangerous smile, and sheknowsthat this is not their Rip Hunter."In which evil Rip stays evil, and Sara is understandably distraught.





	i don't recognize these eyes

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by [this post](http://kalinara.tumblr.com/post/163034988695/so-i-saw-this-idea-somewhere-i-believe-from) by kalinara
> 
> First time writing for this fandom, hopefully the characters aren't OOC. Title from I Was Me by Imagine Dragons.

Sara jolts awake, eyes flying open, the faint taste of metal on her tongue. She panics for a moment, the face of her evil doppelganger the last thing she can remember. The buzz of electricity coursing through her veins helps clear the fog from her disoriented mind, and she realizes that no longer in Rip’s subconscious. Distantly, Sara hears Martin’s voice asking, “What happened?” She recalls the darkened corridors of the Waverider, images of Gideon and Rip flashing through her mind. Gideon and Jax had released Sara and Rip from the brig, and then the small group had encountered the evil Legends. But after the fight...Sara can’t remember what had happened. “What about Captain Hunter?” asks Martin, concerned.

Sara sits up and looks at Jax, who seems as confused as Sara feels. “I think...I think that the evil Legends somehow managed to eject us from Rip’s mind,” Sara says slowly, trying to make sense of her muddled memories.

“Then what happened to Rip?” Jax glances over to where Rip is still lying unconscious. His peaceful expression is a stark contrast to the evil Rip who was trying to kill all of them and the fearful Rip huddled in a corner of his subconscious. In fact, this might be the most relaxed that she’s ever seen him, Sara thinks absently.

“I don’t know. Maybe Gideon was able to save him?” It’s an unlikely possibility, but Sara clings to it because they _had_ to have saved Rip. The team needs him. _She_ needs him.

Martin is shaking his head. “I don’t understand. What’s this about evil Legends and Gideon?”

Sara opens her mouth to explain, but at that moment, a machine begins to beep loudly, and Rip is gasping awake. Sara and Jax leap out of their chairs, exchanging a glance. Uncertainty and hope is written in every line of his expression, and she knows that she looks the same. Her heart is in her throat. This is it. This is when they find out if Rip is Rip again, or if he’s still some warped, dark version of Rip Hunter whom she no longer recognizes. _God_ , how it had hurt to see him as an empty shell of himself, to look into his eyes and see everything that had made Rip himself simply...gone. Sara doesn’t know what she’ll do if Rip isn’t back to normal.

Rip slowly opens his eyes, his erratic breathing calming down. Sara takes a tentative step closer, and when she speaks, her voice trembles ever so slightly, full of hope and terror and concern. “Rip?”

He turns his gaze toward her. Sara thinks she sees a slight softening in his eyes, and for a single moment, her heart leaps in joy—but then one corner of his mouth curves upward in a slow, dangerous smile, and she _knows_ that this is not their Rip Hunter. Never before has Rip worn that darkly amused expression before the Legion twisted him for their own ends. Sara feels her heart shatter, piece by broken piece. “You’re not our Rip,” she says, almost inaudibly.

“So sorry to disappoint, but I’m afraid that _your_ Rip—” this he nearly spits out “—is gone forever.” Martin and Jax inhale a sharp breath of dismay, but Sara barely even hears it. They—no, _she_ —had failed to save him. Just like she had failed Laurel. Why can’t she ever save the people she cares about?

The heavy weight of despair presses down on her chest, and suddenly, she can’t breathe. She spins away from Not-Rip, unable to bear another second of looking at the person who wears Rip’s face. Pressing a hand against the wall for support, she attempts to gain some semblance of control back. Through the ringing in her ears, she vaguely registers Jax and Martin discussing something in low, worried tones, out of Rip’s earshot, and with some effort, she focuses in on their conversation.

“—just try it again?” Jax is saying. His fists are clenching and unclenching, expression frustrated, and Sara knows that he shares the same feeling of abject failure.

“It is too dangerous to attempt to enter Captain Hunter’s mind a second time,” Gideon answers. “It would almost certainly be lethal to both you and Captain Hunter.”

Martin runs a weary hand through his hair and says gently, “I’m sorry. I know he meant a lot to you. He did to all of us.” 

“I’m not giving up on him. I—I _can’t_. I refuse to believe that Rip is beyond our help!” Jax paces back and forth, shaking off Martin’s attempts at comfort. His mouth is drawn in an angry line, eyes shining with unshed tears. While Rip had been teaching Jax the ins and outs of the Waverider, Sara watched them form a strong bond, progressing from mentor and student onto something not unlike father and son. It was apparent whenever Jax went to Rip for advice on a modification he was making to the Waverider, or the way Rip often looked at Jax with something like pride in his eyes when he thought Jax wasn’t watching. 

Sara places a hand on his shoulder, pushing down her own turmoil and looking him in the eye. “We _will_ find another way to save Rip. I promise you that. We are not giving up just yet.” Truthfully, this is just as much a pep talk for herself as it is for Jax.

Jax stares back at her, and he seems to find what he’s looking for in her eyes, for he slumps back and nods. “Yeah. Yeah, okay. What do we do with him now though?” 

All three of them simultaneously look back to where Rip is still bound to the chair, looking bored. He catches their glance and says, “If you’re all done with your support group session, I don’t suppose you would uncuff me?” He casts a pointed look at where his wrists are restrained to the chair. 

“No,” Sara responds shortly. She turns back to Jax and Martin. “We can’t lock him in the brig again, we saw how well that worked last time. Can we keep him sedated in the medley?”

Martin shakes his head. “Not as a long term solution. Prolonged sedation can have negative effects.”

“I could try and remove his override codes from Gideon’s systems,” Jax suggests. “Then we could put him back in the brig.”

“All right, you get on that. Martin, stay here and watch Rip. Make sure he doesn’t try to use another override code or try to kill anyone or something. You know how resourceful he is, even restrained to a chair,” Sara orders. “I’m going to check how repairs are going.”

She sets her jaw, chin high. She will do whatever it takes to get Rip back. Feeling Rip’s cold, unfamiliar gaze on her back as she exits the room, she shudders internally. She _has_ to.

**Author's Note:**

> I was thinking about continuing this, but I don't think I have the time/skill/energy to give this idea the multi-chaptered story it deserves. And if I tried, I'd probably never end up finishing it, so hopefully someone else can! Kudos, comments, concrit are all much appreciated.


End file.
